The Last Man


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cheek; I entreated her to take a composing draught; I poured out the  
medicine, which she took docilely from me. I watched her as she drank it.  
Falsehood and artifice are in themselves so hateful, that, though I still  
thought I did right, a feeling of shame and guilt came painfully upon me. I  
left her, and soon heard that she slept soundly under the influence of the  
opiate I had administered. She was carried thus unconscious on board; the  
anchor weighed, and the wind being favourable, we stood far out to sea;  
with all the canvas spread, and the power of the engine to assist, we  
scudded swiftly and steadily through the chafed element.  
It was late in the day before Perdita awoke, and a longer time elapsed  
before recovering from the torpor occasioned by the laudanum, she perceived  
her change of situation. She started wildly from her couch, and flew to the  
cabin window. The blue and troubled sea sped past the vessel, and was  
spread shoreless around: the sky was covered by a rack, which in its swift  
motion shewed how speedily she was borne away. The creaking of the masts,  
the clang of the wheels, the tramp above, all persuaded her that she was  
already far from the shores of Greece.--"Where are we?" she cried, "where  
are we going?"--  
The attendant whom I had stationed to watch her, replied, "to England."--  
"
And my brother?"--  
Is on deck, Madam."  
"
279  


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